No Erling Haaland, no Rayan Cherki and no Jérémy Doku from the start. The result: a canter to victory against Crystal Palace that takes Manchester City back to within two points of Arsenal after 36 games each.
The good news for Pep Guardiola is that a much-changed team before Saturday’s FA Cup final did the business, with Phil Foden displaying the magic that can make him a force. The poorer tidings are that Arsenal host Burnley on Monday and the chances of them dropping points to the relegated visitors are slim.
All City can do in the title race is keep winning, as they did here – Savinho scoring on 84 minutes to follow Antoine Semenyo’s and Omar Marmoush’s first-half strikes – and keep hoping for a favour from Burnley or Palace, who host Arsenal in the season finale a week on Sunday.
As Foden said: “We’ve seen a lot of things can happen on the final day. I’ve experienced it many times when the game doesn’t go your way. We just have to keep pushing and doing our part.”
Yet it may be over by then: if Arsenal defeat Burnley on Monday, and City fail to do the same at Bournemouth the next day, then Mikel Arteta’s team will be champions.
